Nocturnal Adventures: The Tale of Stellaluna and Jody
by RyantheExtreme29
Summary: Ever wonder what would happen if a human befriended Stellaluna sometime after the events of the story? Jody Swift, a 12-year-old human boy, meets the spunky little fruit bat one evening while searching for herbs in the jungle. Over the course of the next few nights, the two have several adventures, and end up becoming the most unlikely of friends.


**Chapter 1**

Jody Swift stood awkwardly upon the boardwalk. His baby-blue eyes were shifting, and his boot pawed at the ground nervously. The poor boy was sweating buckets.

It was close to noon, yet the jungle air was filled with a mist that shrouded the sunlight. The narrow river flowed gently through the trees, glistening in the midday rays that managed to shine through the mists.

Every time Jody looked up, he could see the giant tower of a tree that rose over the riverside, and the small wooden tree-house that was built in halfway up. This is where the boardwalk lead up to.

This is where he was supposed to meet his mother for the first time in six years.

_This is nuts,_ he thought to himself, _All mom does is_ _research jungle herbs in that rickety tree-house of her's. Will she ever have time to look after me? At least...properly?_

He didn't want this. Heck, the only reason he was sent to live in the Congo Basin in the first place was because his dad thought it'd be good for him. But he had to put up with this. Someway, somehow, he needed to put up with this.

_Oh well, _his brain finally said, _Here we go._

Slowly, Jody bent down, picked up his baggy twin suitcases, hefty with his outdoor clothes & other utensils, and headed on up the walkway leading from the riverside (you could only reach the place by canoe or kayak) to the tree-house itself. After what seemed like an eternity of traversing wooden planks & climbing rather precarious stairways, he reached the rope bridge that lead to the abode itself.

It was a rather small place, with a rounded shape & thatched roof like you'd expect from an african house. But the door & windows appeared far more modern. He wasn't ready, but he crossed the bridge anyway. Once he was standing at the door, he ran a hand through his unkempt brown hair, and took a deep breath.

He knocked three times...

"Come in, please"

The voice that responded definitely sounded like his mother. Jody wasn't sure how he recognized it, but he suspected that was just because it even after six years, it was still his mom. He opened the door to the tree-house. The interior looked like a two-person dorm that was converted into a partial botanist's workspace. And at the desk by the window sat a ginger-haired woman slightly taller than Jody, and she was skimming through a botany book (_fitting,_ he thought).

After the boy closed the door behind him, the woman closed her book. Standing up from her chair and turning around to reveal the face of his mother, Anna.

"Hi, mom," said Jody, who waved awkwardly, "Long time no see, right?"

"My goodness, Jody!" exclaimed his mom, "You got here earlier than I imagined!"

She rushed over to her son and...picked up his duffel bags & carried them over to the bunk bed in the corner. "Why don't you get unpacked, and we'll get down to business. Okay, sweetie?"

"Uh..." Jody was stunned (and disappointed) that his mother had still retained her 'duty before formality' mindset, even after being away for the last few years. Where was the warm hug? Where were the comments about how tall he's gotten? Even something like, "You haven't changed a bit," would've sufficed

"...Okay then. Yeah, I'll do that."

Later, after unpacking...

Once his luggage was squared away, Jody and his mother were seated in two chairs facing each other with a portable table set up in between them. It took him a full hour to unload everything, despite only having two bags of belongings. Now here he was, listening to his mom laying out what his work will entail.

"Your tasks," his mom was saying, "will mostly include going into the jungle to collect certain plants for my research."

"Okay, and what about those book of yours, ma?" asked Jody

"Yes, of course you'll carry a copy with you. It'll help you know what to look for."

"Swell. Anything else?"

"Well," said his mom, "some of your treks will take place in the evenings after dark. Several plants only bloom during the night, so you must collect them during those hours. You still carry around that headlamp of yours, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

_Great, _Jody thought, _This is what I was afraid of: She's treating me like a worker instead of her son. Doesn't she notice that I'm only twelve years old? What about the dangers that lurk out there at night? What about...my safety?_

The poor boy was both annoyed and a little scared. Everyone knows that the jungles of West Africa weren't exactly the safest places to be at night. Leopards and crocodiles and quicksand were only a few dangers on the list, and this woman he dared to call 'mom' seemed oblivious to all of it! No wonder his parents got divorced!

"Excellent," continued his mom, "You're going to need it handy. Tonight, in fact."

She pulled out a copy of _A Botanist's Guide to Congolese Herbs, _and showed him a page detailing a rare species of Aloe. She proceeded to explain it's place in her latest project (Jody couldn't memorize half of the story; so many terms he didn't understand), and said that she needed someone to traverse the rainforest south of her property in order to locate a decent specimen. Oh, and since it was most easily located at night (thanks to its luminescent properties), Jody had to take off in the evening.

"Remember," she finished, "to return here at midnight exactly, understood?"

"More or less," said Jody

"Splendid."

Jody was allowed to relax and unwind for a few hours, since it wasn't supposed to get dark until much later, but that didn't soothe his worries in the slightest. His dad cared about his safety, so why send him to live with someone who doesn't seem to care as much? He guessed that his own slacker tendencies brought this upon him. _Maybe they want me to be more athletic in life, _he figured, _but still, why put me in a position like this?_

Guess he needed to let this play out until his mom could come to her senses.

Evening, 6:30 PM...

"Please be careful out there, honey," called his mom.

So far, that was the only thing she's said that showed _any_ care for her son's safety. Maybe she DID have a soft spot for her family, after all. The thought gave the boy some comfort, especially given what he was doing. Or rather, about to do.

Jody was wearing light hiking clothes and armed with nothing but a blunt machete, a backpack full of mangoes, a botanist's guide book, and a spelunker's headlamp that was a birthday gift of his from a few years ago. He was setting out for the night (as per his mother's instructions) to look for the luminescent Aloe plant and bring one back to the tree-house at midnight. He seethed a little at his predicament, then gave his mom a cheesy fake smile.

"Okay, ma. I'll be back in no time flat," then he seethed lightly again, muttering, "I hope..."

The first two hours and thirty minutes of bushwhacking yielded no success for the boy. The jungle was alive with the sounds of nocturnal creatures, and the darkness shrouding the place was as black as a witch's cauldron. Only a harvest moon to gave any natural light, and Jody had to rely on his headlamp in order to see anything in front of his face, and everything else. The trail he blazed was pretty straight, and he hadn't once encountered anything dangerous, but he hadn't found a glowing plant of any sort.

Jody was contemplating checking the guide book again, when a squeaky shriek echoed through the trees.

He panicked, and bolted straight in a random direction, not even caring if he was running towards or away from the noise. _That's it!_ his mind rambled, _I'm not staying out here a minute longer! If mom's gonna chew me out for not getting the plant, then fine by me! I'm getting outta here!_ Then the noise came again, only it was closer.

That's when the boy finally noticed it sounded like something was...in trouble.

As soon as he registered that, Jody's panic subsided and was replaced by an odd sense of determination. His run slowed to a jog, and his eyes darted left & right. After about thirty seconds his headlamp shined upon a small set of bushes that were twitching, and a distressed squeaking sound coming from it. Nervously, he parted the leaves and found the source of the noise.

Caught underneath an abandoned poacher's net was a small fruit bat. Jody could tell it was very young; about a year old, from the looks of it. Cream-colored and with wings as brown as his own hair, the poor thing struggled helplessly underneath the net. It locked its' yellow eyes with the boy's, and it started squeaking even louder.

"Easy, little fella," said Jody, "you'll only hurt yourself more if you struggle too much."

"Here. Lemme help you with that."

Jody took his machete (the sight of which caused the bat to struggle again, for a brief moment), and began to cut away the net containing the little bat. He was careful not to accidentally slice a wing, and his movements were as steady as a surgeon's. Eventually the net was in shreds, and the bat flew up, causing Jody to flinch & squint his eyes.

When he opened them, the little fruit bat was hovering in front of him with a grateful look on it's face. He didn't know how it could have an expression, given it was an animal, but he smiled back anyway.

"Thank you," said the bat. Jody responded with, "No problem."

_Wait a minute..._

All at once, he realized what exactly just happened, and his mind did a double-take.

A fruit bat spoke to him.

It genuinely _spoke _to him!

What...the...heck?!

The little bat gasped in shock, and Jody followed suite...

Then they both screeched loudly.

**To be continued...**

**A/N:** Okay, so unlike the other story I posted, this tale is one I intend to complete. The idea of a human boy meeting and befriending Stellaluna is a fantasy I've had for years, and since nobody else ever wrote a fanfic about it before...I may as well do it myself.

Not sure what else to say, but I hope people like this, and please review if you can. Any questions, just ask.

Thanks.


End file.
